Watchdog flags list of failings at care home

Inspectors have ordered urgent improvements after listing a catalogue of failings at a care home.

The Care Quality Commission says it is concerned that Alders Residential Home in Morecambe, which caters for up to 32 people, is not meeting national standards required by law.

It has called on Calderdean Limited, which runs the home in Arnside Crescent, to take immediate action.

Inspectors carried out a check up last month.

They found care was not always being delivered in line with residents’ individual care plans and that there were insufficient numbers of staff on duty to ensure their needs were fully met. Inspectors also said they observed ‘limited social interaction’ between staff and residents and said they were concerned about a lack of activities available.

Other findings included residents at risk of inadequate nutrition not always being regularly monitored; incomplete care records; outdated staff training in key areas such as infection control, manual handling and load management; staff not receiving formal supervision sessions for more than a year; ineffective monitoring of the services being provided, and a lack of systems to stop past incidents being repeated.

“We continue to monitor the situation carefully and will not hesitate to take further regulatory action should this prove necessary to ensure the people using the service receive the service they are entitled to expect.”

Sharon Edwards-Morris, care manager at Alders Residential Home, said: “We are delighted that these areas have been brought to our attention.

“We have always worked well with the CQC since we opened in 1990. We have implemented our action plan immediately. Although our action plan was not required by the CQC until August 6, we forwarded our action plan on August 2. We are always striving to improve our services for our clients and their families.”